Good work so far, oversills are a much maligned repair amongst mini enthusiasts, done when minis were worth nothing to get them through MOT. The outer sills should be spot welded on the floor panel and on the outer seam, the ends were the hard bit to get out cleanly on my mini as they were bronzed in.I've yet to do the lower sills too which seems more difficult
That’s the O/S sill, plus inner sill & then the N/S yet to start on @ £40 cheap as chips by a factor of ten?from the recent classic car meet I met Gee who needed help with welding a rust hole on his mini. initially thinking it was a small hole to patch up and quoted £40 but as usual this turns into a bigger job
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at first it looks abit meh with the rust spreading to the lower sill
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but some prodding and wirebrush reveals a horror of rotten sills and mass of bodyfiller
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christ! the insides are just rust and dodgy filler, plus it's been fitted with 'over-sills' which don't feature the original drain ports and simpy traps more water & rust
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chopped the pourous rusty parts out and vacuumed all the debris
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this tigersealed gaping hole might be where water could be leaking in
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grinded the old spot welded strip out
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this cheap copy pattern sill wasn't a precise good fit. I trimmed the front part to match
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but just look at this mess
it doesn't match the door line curve, different spacing and doesn't reach the end far enough
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so I had to split it into sections to line it up and then fill in the gaps
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drilling the plug weld holes is a chore
tack welded in place
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with the wind picking up, welding it outside with an inconsistant unpredictable welder is frustrating
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grinded the welds flat
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that was definately a pain to do and worth more than £40 work. I've yet to do the lower sills too which seems more difficult
That’s the sills sorted, what about the front & back sub-frame mountings & trumpets inner wings?I think you should be charging £40 per hour not job! Many years ago the MOT station I use where charging £10 per inch of weld and apparently that was cheap. Luckily I've always done my own repair/ restoration
I've lost count of how many mini door step and sill jobs I've done now and these days I don't bother repairing, I just buy a complete inner and outer sill repair panel that's already spotted together and Replace the lot in one go.
What welder are you using for it to be inconsistent?
Just bite the bullet and buy a mini. You know you want too
I got enough to do with kassandra, don't need another project carJust bite the bullet and buy a mini. You know you want too![]()
if I ever see a row of those at a car show, they'll literally be like peas in a podQuote: "You know you want too" do what, in a Mini?
Enjoy.
Looks good and fits well Paul. My only thought is how resilient is the material and will it keep it's shape for any length of time? I have made firmer bushes for suspension joints for my MG Midget in the past to replace moulded hard rubber ones but I machined them from black Nylatron which I know has very good wear properties and has a high resistance to impact and oil contamination..............3D print solid steering rack bushings
The steering rack has been squeaking a lot and felt slightly sluggish.
This was partially caused by cutting the 'square' half of the rubber bush so that I could fit a machined half-circle bushing as an early attempt to reduce play. but what it actually did was allow the mounting bracket to pivot from the front side and the very loose fitting rubber mount at the back allowed the bracket & rack to 'swing' sideways resulting in sloppy response.
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to unbolt the rack, first I had to detach the steering column UJ off the rack. decided to unbolt it from within the footwell which was slightly easier than trying to remove the cover from the tight engine bay
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so here's the sloppy rubber rack mount, notice the huge gap between the rubber sides and the mounting bracket
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modelled a tighter fitting new bush
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3D printed over 6hrs
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Snug install
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went for a test drive and ooh the steering finally feels very sharp & responsive![]()
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I don’t understand the attraction of the early Mk1 Mini, a now 60 year old design that is not safe or suitable as a daily runabout in congested modern traffic levels?if I ever see a row of those at a car show, they'll literally be like peas in a pod![]()
Have you driven an early one? My first car was a 1960 Mini van, (some 53 years agoI don’t understand the attraction of the early Mk1 Mini, a now 60 year old design that is not safe or suitable as a daily runabout in congested modern traffic levels?![]()
yeah, I've always felt my PAS had this floppy dead-center feeling for years and yet driving other micras felt sharper...turned out to be this floppy old bushing all along. the new printed bush fits really snug and wow the steering feels responsive & chunky.Looks good and fits well Paul. My only thought is how resilient is the material and will it keep it's shape for any length of time? I have made firmer bushes for suspension joints for my MG Midget in the past to replace moulded hard rubber ones but I machined them from black Nylatron which I know has very good wear properties and has a high resistance to impact and oil contamination..............
indeed I've been using it few hours per night for past few days, finding it hard to feed smoothly, lots to learn, and bottle is almost down to 1/2Very good choice.
I have the same machine & helmet. You will probably use that whole bottle just practicing and trust me it's all practice practice practice when it comes to learning TIG the 4hrs training is a nice option.
Personally I don't have an issue with the larger 26 torch but everything is personal choice and comfort is probably one of the most important things
I'm a bit odd and find aluminium easier than steel when it comes to tig.
Good luck and keep practicing![]()
oh yes I've subscribed to Jodie for few years, lots of gr8 tips and examples.A few things no forgot to say...
Its worth checking out welding tips and tricks on YouTube. His videos are a great learning aid.
Clean your metal and when you think it's clean, clean it some more. ( Including the earth point)
Get a dedicated machine/wheel for grinding tungsten. Trust me you will be dipping your tip more than a jiggalo. As soon as you contaminate the tungsten clean it, dont carry on trying to lay a bead.
I found a "mini" bench grinder in Aldi (£20-ish) which is used solely for tungsten.
Tungsten choice can make a difference. I only use 2% lathinated now as it does everything well and I don't have to worry about changing it.